Browse Dissertations and Theses - Comparative Biosciences by Title

Although initially identified as an “activator” of follicle-stimulating hormone release from the pituitary, activin A can also function as a paracrine factor in many tissue contexts. As a member of the transforming growth ...

The pathogenesis of Acanthamoeba keratitis, an increasingly reported and often unmanageable protozoal infection occurring primarily in wearers of soft contact lenses, is unknown. Since adherence of a pathogen to the corneal ...

The purpose of this thesis was to: (1) explore the in vitro dose-response relationship between gentamicin and Escherichia coli under conditions of constant and declining antibiotic concentrations and (2) to characterize ...

Reproductive senescence or menopause in women occurs when a female’s reproductive capability is terminated naturally by aging of the body or terminated abnormally because of factors such as exposure to environmental ...

The purpose of these studies was to define the toxicity of bromethalin-based rodenticides, develop treatments, and determine new modes of action of bromethalin. Bromethalin-based rodenticides are highly neurotoxic to cats ...

The purposes of these studies were to characterize the biliary excretion and enterohepatic cycling (EHC) of zearlenone (ZEN) in young pigs and to therapeutically mimic the effect of bile removal in enhancing body clearance ...

Bacterial neuraminidases (NANases) have been proposed to be bacterial virulence factors because of their ability to cleave sialic acid residues from host glycoconjugates. The gene encoding NANase (nanH) from Salmonella ...

The toxicity, biotransformation and biological activities of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are influenced by the number and position of chlorine atoms on the biphenyl rings. The excretion and tissue retention of three ...

Cytochrome P450 2J2 (CYP2J2) is membrane bound enzyme that is highly expressed in the cardiovascular system and brain where it mediates the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids into oxygenated bioactive metabolites. ...

male, and therefore to sustain spermatogenesis.
There is a general lack of mechanistic insights on how particulate matter (or ultra fine
particles) alter male fertility. A few studies showed that ultra fine particles ...

The widespread use of soy protein-based infant formulas for human infant nutrition has raised concerns regarding potential estrogenic effects of soy isoflavones on normal development and adult function of the reproductive ...

This study investigated the relationship between soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) and soil amendments (lime and phosphate) to the retention of lead in soil fed to rats. This study also related the amount of lead that ...

In the female reproductive system, the ovary is the primary functional organ responsible for oocyte production, follicle maturation and synthesis of sex steroid hormones including estrogens. Throughout the lifetime of a ...

The process of implantation begins with the attachment of the embryo to the uterine lumen. This event is followed by the development of the implanted blastocyst in the differentiated endometrium. Decidualization, a signatory ...

Cyanohydroxybutene (CHB) is a nitrile derived from glucosinolates commonly found in cruciferous plants. Glucosinolate derivatives are believed to provide protection against carcinogens by inducing detoxifying including the ...

It is possible to evaluate the effects of glucose and insulin on feline embryonic development using in vitro fertilization and embryo culture. The objective of this study was to determine if glucose concentrations greater ...

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the role of testosterone (T) and its metabolites, estradiol (E) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the regulation of LH release in male sheep. The first four studies examined the ...